Erik Paulsen wins re-election in 3rd Congressional District

Republican incumbent Erik Paulsen has won re-election in the Third Congressional District race against challenger Brian Barnes.

With nearly 77 percent of precincts reporting, Barnes conceded the race to Paulsen, who earned 58 percent of votes and Barnes had 41.5 percent, as of 11:15 p.m. Tuesday evening.

Paulsen gave his victory speech when approximately 50 percent of precincts had reported their numbers, showing Paulsen with more than 60 percent of those votes.

The news was well received during the Republican’s election party at the Hilton Minneapolis-Bloomington Tuesday night, since it came shortly after Kurt Bills gave his concession speech in his run against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

The crowd cheered not only over Paulsen’s win, but other expected results for the makeup of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We got one win on the board, and look this is going to be a long night. … There are more wins to come, without any doubt. The good news is the House is going to stay in hands of the Republican majority.”

After 77 percent of precincts reported, Barnes called Paulsen to congratulate him on a victory and then released a statement to the press.

“Tonight didn’t end as we would’ve liked, but this campaign has never been about just one election,” Barnes said in the statement.

“We set out on this journey 15 months ago to raise important issues and to change the tone in Washington, D.C. Win or lose, Election Day was always simply a marker we’d have to pass on the road to building a politics worthy of all Minnesotans and all Americans.”

Ellison winning by large margin in Fifth Congressional District

BY SETH ROWE – SUN NEWSPAPERS

Despite a tense campaign, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison easily won re-election to represent the Fifth Congressional District in Congress.

Ellison faced a challenge by Republican Chris Fields, a retired Marine running in his first campaign. With 50 percent of the vote counted, Ellison had brought in twice as many votes as Fields, though. Ellison, a member of the DFL Party, had received 108,071 votes, unofficially, while Fields had taken in 47,243. Write-in votes totaled 387.

In a victory speech to supporters, Ellison mainly focused on Democratic victories on the national level.

“Make some noise!” Ellison said. “You know, you guys, we’re having a good night.”

He praised U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar for her victory and added, “All over the country, things are looking good.”

He added, “We should feel good about it because we’re at this place in time because of your hard work. You deserve to party tonight. You deserve to have a good time because you know what? You worked hard and you got us here.”

He thanked his campaign staff as well as the DFL Party.

“We are so proud to be DFLers tonight,” Ellison said.

While wearing a shirt that read, “TAKE ACTION MN,” Ellison spoke about his opposition to constitutional amendments on the Minnesota ballot as well as his optimism regarding President Barack Obama.

“Get out there tonight and never, ever give up on your dreams,” he told supporters. “We’re going to win tonight.”

Ellison did not mention his opponent during his speech. Fields could not be immediately reached for comment. His campaign website and Twitter feed also had not been updated after polls closed.

Incumbent seemingly has it in the 1st District

by Emily Bialkowski – ECM Publishers

The incumbent seems to have it in Minnesota’s contest for the U.S. House of Representatives 1st District seat. Tim Walz, a Democrat, teacher and retired command sergeant, took the race from challenger Allen Quist (R-St. Peter) by a margin of 24,168 votes to 19,823 in the early going Tuesday night when a little over 50 percent of the precincts were reporting. This will be a fourth term for Walz, who is most known for authoring bipartisan veterans-related bills.

Vigorous in his effort to beat Walz, Quist’s platform included a nine-prong approach to cleaning house at the federal level. His strategy was to: balance the federal budget without raising taxes; repeal ObamaCare; repeal burdensome regulations; rein in the Environmental Protection Agency; stop government Medicaid fraud; take control of the Federal Reserve; abolish the Department of Education; no foreign wars for nation building; and stop the marriage tax.

Walz is a high school teacher from Mankato. He serves on three committees in the United States House of Representatives: Agriculture, Transportation and Infrastructure and Veterans Affairs. He also is one of nine house members to serve on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Minnesota’s 1st congressional district extends across southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. The First District is primarily a rural district though it contains several mid-sized cities, including Rochester, Mankato and Winona.

– Emily Bialkowski

John Kline has early lead in 2nd District race

By SunThisweek on November 6, 2012 at 9:45 pm

U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Burnsville, has the early lead in the 2nd Congressional District over former state Rep. Mike Obermueller, according to results reported from the Minnesota Secretary of State. This report does not include the areas of the district that have reported results.

With 81 percent of precincts reporting, incumbent Democratic 4th District Congresswoman Betty McCollum beat back a challenge from Republican Tony Hernandez by a two-to-one margin to hold on to her seat in the redrawn district

With 186 out of 230 precincts in at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, McCollum had 172,952 votes to Hernandez’s 85,519. Independence Party candidate Steve Carlson trailed with 16,505 votes.

In Washington County, where the central part of the county was put in the McCollum’s district as part redistricting, Hernandez kept the contest somewhat close. With 53 of the county’s 59 precincts in the district reporting early Wednesday, McCollum received 38,111 votes to Hernandez’s 32,997 votes. Carlson received 4,603 votes.

The central part of Washington County was placed in the 4th District by a March judicial redistricting plan. Washington County cities in the district include Stillwater, Oak Park Heights, Bayport Lake Elmo, Oakdale, Grant, Afton, Dellwood, Mahtomedi, Birchwood Village, Lakeland, Lakeland Shores, Lake St. Croix Beach, St. Mary’s Point and West Lakeland, Baytown and Stillwater townships.

Former Congressman Rick Nolan becomes congressman again

Posted November 7, 2012 at 1:39 am by Howard Lestrud

At about 75 minutes after midnight, former Congressman Rick Nolan went to the podium as Representative-elect for the Eighth District. He had just defeated incumbent Chip Cravaack.

The margin of victory was 53 percent to 47 percent. Cravaack conceded victory to Nolan.

Nolan said he did not know where to begin to thank all of his supporters. He also thanked Rep. Cravaack for his service to his country.